Joy Ride
by SparkaDark
Summary: Em takes the Audi. Tony realizes his daughter is more than the sum of his genes. I wrote this a long time ago, so the new Avengers movie kind of blows it out of context, but I thought I'd share it anyway. Reviews appreciated.


The Audi was all but silent… The only clue to her presence was the rooster tail of dust as Emilia Stark pulled the emergency brake and cranked the wheel, executing a perfect J-turn. She jammed the clutch and shifted into reverse, grinning and evaluating the terrain to see if she could pull the maneuver again. Glancing into the rear-view mirror, she grimaced. The glint of sunlight off of red and gold armor was unmistakable; Dad had found her.

It had been three years since she was unceremoniously dumped at the doorstep of Stark Industries by a "mother" who cared more about her next drink and/or score than she had about Emilia. For years she'd sneer at the screen whenever Tony Stark or Iron Man was mentioned on the television and tell Em exactly what she thought of her famous "sperm donor." It might have been the only moment of clarity in her short life when Emma Lloyd dropped Emilia off to be introduced to her father. Emma died from an overdose two weeks later. Emilia hardly mourned.

Pepper Potts, by then Pepper Potts-Stark, had accepted Emilia's abrupt arrival with her usual gracious aplomb and open arms. She knew who Tony Stark was. Emilia, on the other hand, requested a DNA test, just to be sure. Emma had developed a certain reputation, too. They needn't have bothered, though. Emilia had Tony's eyes… and his mind. Pepper's transition from stranger to mother was nearly instantaneous. She'd always wanted a daughter, but Stark Industries was… Stark Industries. From the moment the DNA results were official, Pepper was "Mom," and neither she nor Emilia looked back.

The man in the crazy iron suit who was quickly closing in on the Audi, however, had taken a bit more time to get used to parenthood.

There's an overused movie and television trope that portrays any man who is suddenly told he's a father as a panicked, hyperventilating nut ball. Emilia Stark was able to confirm that it was, in fact, quite accurate in Tony Stark's case. It probably would have been easier on Tony had Emilia been a boy. He'd spent more than half of his life with the singular objective of getting under the skirts and into the beds of women barely 7 years her senior. Realizing that in just a few years, boys would start hanging around the house with the same objective, sights tightly locked onto his little girl, gave the poor man heart palpitations…. And a desperate craving for tighter security.

The most recently built Stark mansion had security in spades. The 10880 Malibu Pointe house had been demolished and rebuilt with state-of-the-art sensors, scanners, cameras… you name it. Unfortunately for the now-teenaged Stark daughter, this meant using her creative intellect to circumvent whatever her father's AI, JARVIS, could throw at her when she needed to get away. Emilia accepted that Tony was new to parenthood, and very, very protective, but she needed an outlet. When he caught her lurking around his car collection, he was peeved, but then proud of her depth of knowledge. She knew makes, models, engines, technology, and that's when the fun began. Em hadn't known that one of the few ways Tony had bonded with his own father was through rebuilding classic cars. It wasn't long before Pepper would seek the two of them out in the garage, finding a pair of legs sticking out from underneath either side of the 1951 Jaguar Tony had brought in to rebuild with his "little mechanic."

Emilia's only complaint was that no matter how much work they did on the Jaguar, it was always Tony who got to give it the test drives. Emilia wasn't old enough for a license, but this morning… JARVIS was down for maintenance, which left the Stark house without 90% of its security measures. Emilia, her father's child through and through, decided that: A. If her mental age was double her chronological age, then she should be entitled to the same privileges California doled out to kids only a piddling 2 years older than she was; and B: It was easier to ask for forgiveness than permission. She considered taking the Jag out for a spin, but the lure of Tony's custom Audi was too much to resist. She confirmed that both Mom and Dad were in meetings that morning, grabbed a set of keys, and flew the coop. She would be back in an hour… two tops. Nobody would need to know. She gunned the engine, jumped on the Pacific Coast Highway, and was soon in the desert, putting on her own driving clinic. It just figured that JARVIS would be back online before she returned.

Tony and Pepper were in yet another interminably long board meeting when Tony's earpiece pinged.

"Sir… I've completed routine maintenance and the compound is fully online, per your instructions."

"Mmm hmm… Thanks, Jarvis." Tony rubbed his eyes and tried to re-focus on the meeting. Prospective investments, or something.

"Um… Sir…?"

" _WHAT_ , Jarvis?" Tony hissed, rising and quickly excusing himself. Pepper, deeply absorbed, waved him out without so much as a second glance.

"Sir, sensors are reporting one of the vehicles has gone missing from the garage."

Tony shook his head and smiled, "Wake up, Jarvis. Pepper and I took the Lexus this morning. Of course one of the cars is missing."

There was a brief moment of hesitation before Jarvis spoke up again. "Sir… I am aware that you and Mrs. Stark are currently in possession of the Lexus. The _Audi_ is missing, sir."

Tony stopped in his tracks. "The Audi? Well, where is it? Turn on your sensors. Find it. You can do that for the suit, you can find a damn car."

"Sir, I'm afraid the sensors were disabled for that vehicle at some point during my maintenance period."

Tony began to get nervous. Emilia was home for the summer, alone in the house. If someone had taken advantage of the security maintenance to walk in and take a $100,000 car, would they be tempted to take her, too? Images of her tied up, blindfolded, god forbid, _drugged_ while some low-life thug assembled a ransom note flashed through his mind. The idea of a complete stranger driving away with his "Emmy" was making him jumpy. Probably just parental jitters, though…He was definitely overreacting... Right? He took a deep breath and said a quick prayer before asking the question.

"Jarvis, is my daughter at home?"

It felt like forever before Jarvis replied, "I am unable to locate Miss Stark on any of my system's sensors. It appears she is not on the premises.."

The hairs on the back of Tony's neck began to stand up. His pace quickened as he neared the big double doors. "Jarvis… Tell me she had something scheduled today. Field trip, music lesson, soccer practice, _anything_."

After a torturous silence, Jarvis responded. "I'm sorry, sir, but Miss Emilia has no appointments scheduled. Is there cause for concern?"

"Damn right there is. Send me Mark 44. Now. And start checking traffic cameras. The Audi doesn't exactly blend in. Whoever took my car took my daughter… and he will not live to regret it."

"Initializing search, sir. Shall I inform Mrs. Stark?" Jarvis calmly droned.

Tony looked back toward the board room and imagined how Pepper would react…

"Absolutely not. No need to scare her mother to death." Tony replied, banging through the exit, removing jacket and tie in preparation for Mark 44's arrival.

"Sir… I've located the car on several cameras along the Pacific Coast Highway."

"And?" Tony snapped, as Mark 44 landed. He was nearly secured into the Iron Man suit when Jarvis replied,

"Sir… It appears the driver is… Miss Emilia herself."

Tony's pulse jumped as his jaw tightened. "Say that again, Jarvis?"

"Miss Emilia is driving the Audi. Sir, isn't she a bit young for a license?"

Tony grimaced. "California may be a progressive state, Jarvis, but it still views 14 as underage to drive. Give me coordinates."

"Calculating flight plan, sir."

Em considered putting the car in park and waiting for the inevitable. Tony wasn't exactly the most even-tempered of parents, and his lectures were the stuff of legend. No need to further cheese him off, but Em was probably in the deepest trouble of her short life. May as well get in a few more minutes of driving before Iron Man caught up with her. She re-started the car, dropped the hammer, and took off. She only pulled off two more full ovals around her makeshift racetrack when her father caught up with her. As the suit paced the car, the faceplate flipped up to reveal Tony's extremely angry face. "Stop the car. Now!"

Rolling her eyes, Emilia reached for the shifter and reluctantly downshifted to a stop. Throwing the car into park, she turned off the engine. Unbuckling, she heard the abrupt landing outside her window. Before she could reach for the handle, the Audi's door was yanked open and Emilia was hauled out of the driver's seat. Turning to face her father, who had ejected from his armor, Emilia had the wherewithal to put on an appropriately contrite face before looking up into her father's eyes. What she saw there turned her blood cold. He was scared to death. They both started talking at the same time.

"What in the hell do you think you were doing?"

"Daddy, calm down…"

Both father and daughter stopped to let the other speak, or so Emilia thought. Tony gave her a look that stopped her words in her throat, grasped her quickly and hugged her tight. He held her there for a moment, and she heard his heart rate start to slow and grow even. Finally, he released her and stepped back. He seemed to tower over the girl, and she squirmed inwardly. He held her shoulders, took a deep breath...

"Do you know what I thought happened to you today?" Tony asked, quietly, sternly… It completely unnerved his daughter. Tony should be shouting at the top of his lungs. Em just shook her head and looked at her feet. Tony grasped her chin and tilted her face up to look at him. "I thought someone had taken you. Security was down, _and you disappeared._ Do you know what it's like to think your child has been kidnapped?" Tony's voice caught in his throat. "Do you know all the horrible things I had to keep from imagining had happened to you?

Emilia's eyes began to sting. She bit the inside of her cheek to try to keep the waterworks from starting, but a pair of tears managed to escape from the corners of her eyes. Tony gently took his daughter's face in both hands, wiped the tears away with his thumbs, and looked deeply into eyes that mirrored his own...

"You are the most precious thing in my entire world…" He closed his eyes and touched his forehead to hers. "And I am so. very. angry with you. Get back in the car."

Emilia made to jump in and re-start the Audi, but was stopped when Tony grasped the back of her jacket and pulled her out again. He turned her around, pointed to the other side of the car and growled, " _Passenger_ side." It was the first time since Jarvis had pinged that he almost cracked a smile. As she scurried to the other door, Tony adjusted the sports car's seat and commanded Jarvis to send Mark 44 back home.

The quiet was, well, disquieting. Emilia fidgeted in her seat, occasionally sneaking sidelong glances at the rather animated face of her father. He seemed to be engaging in a silent argument with himself. He'd sigh heavily, then shake his head, then the muscles in his neck would tense and relax. Then his facial expression would change. His eyebrows - there was serious entertainment - they were nearly jumping off of his forehead. His hands were in constant motion on the steering wheel. First tense, then relaxed, then at 10 and 2, then barely steering near the bottom of the wheel. This was alarmingly new behavior in a man Em had known now for three years… A man who did not hesitate to make his opinion loudly and insistently known. And yet he didn't say a word. She became concerned; Had she broken his brain? What if some insane Stark Biotech gizmo he'd implanted had short-circuited, and her actions were to blame? Would he ever speak again? She let out an audible sigh of relief when the car pulled into the drive and - staring straight ahead - Tony said his first words since leaving the desert. Slowly, deliberately, four syllables: " _Go to your room._ "

Em scrambled from the car and left her father there, seething. As she passed through the foyer, Jarvis chimed, "Welcome home, Miss Emilia."

"Can it, Jarvis." She knew a traitor when she heard one. She took the stairs two at a time and made the upstairs hall in record speed. Just in time to hear Tony slam the front door and Jarvis's smarmy, "Welcome home, Sir." How could an AI sound self-satisfied? She swore that thing was against her from the start. Maybe he was just pissed she had hacked and removed his remote guidance from the Audi while he was offline. Whatever.

Tony was steeling himself for what he'd been dreading all the way home. He had to call Pepper. She'd want an explanation for his hasty exit and, hell, she was the kid's mom. This transgression couldn't go unreported. He dialed and Pepper picked up immediately.

"Where are you? What's wrong?!"

Tony kneaded his pounding temples. "Uh, yeah. I'm home. Em's here with me. She, uh… She stole a car."

He was met with stunned silence from the other end. "I mean, um, it's one of ours… The Audi, in fact, so there's that. But, yeah. I found her about 15 miles outside of Malibu, practicing what appeared to be.. advanced evasion maneuvers."

Pepper finally found her voice. "Emilia… OUR Emilia… Took a car out _by herself_ …"

"Looks that way, yeah."

"Is she okay? Did she crash? Is the car drivable?"

Thankful Pepper was not there in person, Tony couldn't help but grin, "Em's fine… Pretty decent driver, actually. Must be in the genes."

Pepper was not amused.

"Where was Jarvis? How did she even get the car out of the garage?"

Tony continued to massage his forehead. "Jarvis was down for a little while today. She must have slipped out somehow without tripping the backups."

Pepper released an exasperated breath from the other end of the line. "Tony… You have to deal with this. The cars… That's your thing. The two of you, you're joined at the hip in that garage. You have to set the limits there. She has to know, in no uncertain terms, that her behavior today was unacceptable. She could have been caught… She's 14, for God's sake, Tony! She could have been killed!"

"I am aware of that… I… You've… We've…" Tony let out his own exasperated breath. "She's never done something like this before. What do I do?"

"I don't know, Tony! I was never like that as a kid! What did your father do when you pulled stunts like this?"

Tony winced. "He sent me to boarding school."

Pepper was quiet for a moment on the other end of the line. "Well, we're not sending her to boarding school. This is on you, Tony. You're her father. Deal with it." The line went dead in Tony's ear. Slowly, quietly, he disconnected the phone, left it on a side table, and started a slow journey towards Emilia's room. He needed time to think.

It felt like a year, waiting for her father to come talk to her. She heard him on the stairs, but it was still ages before he showed up at her door. She knew she was in for it- she just didn't know what. The suspense was a rock in the bottom of her stomach, just… stewing there, making her feel like a complete jerk. If hindsight was 20/20, then foresight in teenagers may as well be legal blindness. She'd acted on impulse… She saw that now. What seemed completely justifiable two hours ago seemed ludicrous now. "What the hell was I thinking?" Then, "Oh, jeez, this is going to make Mom cry. I can't believe I'm going to make Mom CRY. I am a horrible person." She stood up and paced. She was right on the edge of giving up and seeking Tony out when he finally, mercifully, knocked and entered. He looked like he'd aged ten years in the last ten minutes. She felt miserable for that, too.

"I'm going to give you two options, young lady." Tony began, closing Emilia's door. "Option one: I scrap the Jaguar. Sell it, demolish it, what have you, but the Jag is gone and you're banned from the garage."

Emilia's face went white. "But Dad, that's our project… You can't get rid of the Jag! We just got the timing belts in and you were going to show me how to tweak the ignition...That's our baby down there!" Em's emotions betrayed her and tears began coursing down her cheeks. "Daddy, that's not fair!"

Tony's heart contracted, but he soldiered on. "I think it's perfectly fair, but that doesn't mean it doesn't hurt. I love that junk pile. I love working on it with you… but you crossed a serious line today, sweetie. Hell, _you blew the line up_ and went miles beyond irresponsible behavior. You and I can't go one more step in this world together before you understand exactly how wrong you were today. Yes, this situation sucks, but you created it yourself. I think taking away that project, as much as I love it, might just teach you the lesson you need to learn."

Emilia wiped away tears, crossed her arms and replied, "You said there were two options. What's the second one?"

Tony gritted his teeth, steeling himself for the inevitable backlash, and brought out what he'd stopped for before confronting his daughter: A quickly downloaded copy of California's driving laws. "We do what the state would have, had they caught you instead."

"And that is…?" Em asked, doubtfully.

"No license 'til you're 18."

Em nearly turned purple. "EIGHTEEN?!"

Tony watched as his young daughter paced and ranted. God, she was just like him; opinionated, impulsive, undeniably brilliant. How he had scraped by without a major incident out of her in the last three years boggled the mind. It was almost enough to justify surrender and cave. She'd never needed much discipline beyond the random lecture about school or being sent to her room once or twice for giving Pepper an attitude. Typical teenage girl stuff, from what Pepper had reported. Damn near stellar behavior compared to his record at her age. But he knew he couldn't cave. He knew, deep inside that here was a turning point. Let her off the hook now, and she would likely go the way he did. He didn't want her to learn about the world by making the mistakes he had. He had to man up. In a neat package, here was the hard side of parenting. You sometimes have to hurt them to teach them….

"WOULD YOU LIKE TO GO FOR 21?"

Silence. She brooded as he continued. "Option one is scrapping the Jag, no more garage for the foreseeable future, if ever. Option two, you wait until graduation to drive."

The poor kid looked close to hyperventilation. He pressed on. "Either option hurts my heart. I'm punishing myself every bit as much as you... and I deserve it."

Em quietly scoffed. Tony chose to ignore it.

" _Clearly_ I didn't set limits well enough for you to understand that taking a car and driving underage are absolutely unacceptable. I'm the last person who would advocate taking away a teenager's freedom to drive. I was doing it well before fourteen, but I have to make decisions about _your_ safety now - _not mine_ \- the difference being you've got the benefit of my mistakes to learn from. Hell, I was looking forward to teaching you in the very car we're working on downstairs! Now I'll have to wait four years, or maybe never get to do that. I have to put what I want aside so you don't take this kind of risk again. So here we are, trying to decide between two sides of a very ugly coin. What's it going to be?"

Emilia looked down and shuffled her feet, stalling. "Can I have a few minutes to think about it?"

Tony nodded. "Meet me downstairs when you're ready to talk." He left the document with Em, turned, and left the room. Once the door had softly latched, Emilia dropped into a nearby chair and chewed on her fingernails. She always chewed them when she was making tough decisions…

Tony wearily eased into an overstuffed leather office chair and spun around to face the window. He leaned forward and put his elbows on his knees and his face in his hands. It seemed like only seconds before he heard the soft knock. It was like his doom was on the other side of that door, shyly asking for admittance. Doom that smelled like bubble gum and wore red sneakers.

"Come in." He couldn't turn around yet. He couldn't face her. He didn't want to know her decision. Either one bugged him. If she gave up the Jag… It was like she was giving _him_ up. The car represented all the progress he had made in their relationship. He'd missed all the baby bonding and teaching her to walk and speak. He regretted every second of those 11 years her mother had selfishly kept from him. He'd only had her for three years. An entire parental relationship, discovered, planted, grown, lovingly tended… He was just getting to the good part, and of course his damn impulsive Stark genes had to rear their ugly heads. Karma. The other option? How could he bring himself to clip her metaphorical wings? Sure, he'd made mistakes in his time, but those mistakes made him who he was today. Who was he to deny her the luxury of making her own?

"Daddy?" She said, in a hoarse whisper. _Oh, God, here we go_. He turned around, and she - God and all that is holy, bless her - she made it easy on him. She proceeded to tell him, in detail, her exact reasoning for choosing the way she had. It was so simple, so elegant, so starkly logical that he thanked his lucky stars and promised himself to never, ever let Pepper go, so long as they lived. Because it was not his, but Pepper's voice that came out of his daughter that afternoon. In all the self-loathing and blaming of his genes, he'd forgotten - there was nature, but there was also nurture. Pepper had played her part in Em's upbringing, too. She was the calm to his storm. The fruit to his nuts… and it had rubbed off on Em. Her reasoning, in brief, was that he, in the process of becoming Iron Man, had endured isolation and loss of his freedom, taken risks and even bled for what was just. To right the wrongs he had set in motion in his life, he took what he felt he deserved, without complaint, to change for the better...She said that if he could do all that, she could live without some freedoms to fix what she had broken, too. She'd decided that waiting a couple of years for a license was nothing compared with losing the time with her father the Jag project represented. She asked if that was okay. Tony softly said, "Of course." Then, with a quiet dignity that belied her young age, Em hugged him, apologized, and quietly left the room. The door latched, and Tony collapsed in relief.

...And then Pepper got home.


End file.
